Post by aleamon98 on Mar 11, 2008 11:38:47 GMT -5
“No body” murder cases: Former D.C. prosecutor talks about Parker case
03/11/08
Josh O'Bryant
Tad DiBiase
How difficult is it to convict a suspect of murder if there is no body and no weapon, such as in the Sam Parker case?
Tad DiBiase says it’s easier than one might think.
DiBiase, a former homicide prosecutor from Washington, D.C., shed light on “no body” cases.
DiBiase has collected more than 200 “no body” homicide cases, including several other Georgia cases beyond the Sam Parker case, which can be researched on his blog at nobodycases.blogstream.com.
According to DiBiase, the biggest obstacle that a “no body” prosecution faces is proving that the person was actually murdered. This allows for two components.
The first would be to prove that the actual person is deceased, while second would be proving that that person was actually murdered.
“What I have found in looking at a lot of these cases is that, while that is a burden, it is actually less difficult than I think lay people and maybe most jurors might think. That is because, in most cases, it becomes pretty obvious that at least up to the first point that the person is actually dead. Then the battleground really is on the second point, which is ‘were they murdered’, and then the third point of course being did this guy … actually do it,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, what you find in a lot of these cases is that the person who is murdered, is otherwise not usually a victim of a crime.
“In those cases, it is usually very easy to prove that the person is not alive. They have missed their sons 10th birthday, his 11th birthday, his 12th birthday. They have missed all of these important events,” DiBiase said.
Who is Tad DiBiase?
Tad DiBiase was born and raised in New York, about 40 minutes north of New York City.
He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina and graduated with a degree in politics.
He worked in Washington, D.C., for IBM for one year. He attended Brooklyn Law School and graduated in 1991and participated in the Prosecutor’s Clinic at Brooklyn district attorney’s office. He worked for 3½ years for a New York law firm, Shearman & Sterling, in their D.C. office.
He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. in 1995. He worked there for 12 years, nine of which he prosecuted homicides, specializing in domestic homicides and forensic cases.
DiBiase also served as deputy chief of misdemeanor section, chief of Third District homicide/major crimes section and ended his career as the deputy chief of homicide section and special counsel for Professional Development and Training.
He tried more than 50 jury trials, including 20 homicide cases, including D.C.’s second “no body” homicide cases. He has consulted with police departments and prosecutors on “no body” cases, lectured to law enforcement and written his blog (online at nobodycases.blogstream.com) since May 2006. He left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May 2007 and joined Shapiro, Lifschitz and Schram law firm, where he practices construction litigation, government contracts and white-collar law.
New DNA technology has changed the odds
“The part to prove the second point, that the person was murdered, that is kind of where the forensics evidence comes in and what I have noticed is that is the biggest change from years ago. The advances in forensics evidence has made it significantly easier to prove that a person was murdered, because we are able to find their blood, able to find their DNA, able to take very small samples of DNA and work up a profile of the person,” he said.
According to DiBiase, maternal DNA can now be taken from a mother and compared to the DNA of a victim to determine if the victims DNA can be linked as a descendant of the mother.
“That type of scientific advance, that didn’t exist five years ago, let alone ten years ago, and that is what I have found that has made a really big difference and I think why we are seeing more of these (no body) cases than we have seen in the past,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, the conviction rate on “no body” cases is very high. He feels that it is because the prosecution brings stronger cases, but it is not as big of a burden to overcome with not having the body.
According to DiBiase, it is not an easy task to dispose of a body.
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but it certainly fits the very common profile of what you see in a “no body” case, which is a husband, a wife, a relationship between the two and that’s because it is enormously difficult to get rid of a body…. You’ve got to be someone who can have ready access to the person. Access that is not necessarily going to be suspicious. You’ve got to have time with the body (to dispose of),” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, in any domestic violence case, the issue is very much often about control. Typically it is the man doing something to the woman.
“It’s almost always about control — the man feeling like he is loosing control and that is what can be a triggering event,” he said. “You almost always see some triggering event. A fight between the two people, a court date coming up.”
According to DiBiase, a divorce is a classic triggering event, because it sends a signal to the man that he is loosing control and the woman is getting away.
“And that is often what triggers someone that would ordinarily not be disposed of committing a murder to actually do something like that,” he said.
According to DiBiase, there are basically three ways to close a “no body” case.
The first is that the defendant confesses; second, someone “snitches” on the defendant; and third, from very strong forensic evidence.
DiBiase said that through his research, he has found that “no body” cases are not as difficult as most believe.
“I have found the worst defense is actually to say that the victim is not dead. I have found that is distinctively a stupid defense and a terrible defense,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, most bodies in “no body” cases are never found.
DiBiase said that most of the times the bodies are weighed down in bodies of water or buried.
DiBiase was a prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney Office in Washington, D.C., and left that position in May 2007.
He specialized in domestic murder cases and DNA scientific forensic cases.
He spent 12 years as a prosecuting attorney and nine years as a homicide prosecutor.
talks about Parker case
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=884239&CategoryID=3511&on=1
03/11/08
Josh O'Bryant
Tad DiBiase
How difficult is it to convict a suspect of murder if there is no body and no weapon, such as in the Sam Parker case?
Tad DiBiase says it’s easier than one might think.
DiBiase, a former homicide prosecutor from Washington, D.C., shed light on “no body” cases.
DiBiase has collected more than 200 “no body” homicide cases, including several other Georgia cases beyond the Sam Parker case, which can be researched on his blog at nobodycases.blogstream.com.
According to DiBiase, the biggest obstacle that a “no body” prosecution faces is proving that the person was actually murdered. This allows for two components.
The first would be to prove that the actual person is deceased, while second would be proving that that person was actually murdered.
“What I have found in looking at a lot of these cases is that, while that is a burden, it is actually less difficult than I think lay people and maybe most jurors might think. That is because, in most cases, it becomes pretty obvious that at least up to the first point that the person is actually dead. Then the battleground really is on the second point, which is ‘were they murdered’, and then the third point of course being did this guy … actually do it,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, what you find in a lot of these cases is that the person who is murdered, is otherwise not usually a victim of a crime.
“In those cases, it is usually very easy to prove that the person is not alive. They have missed their sons 10th birthday, his 11th birthday, his 12th birthday. They have missed all of these important events,” DiBiase said.
Who is Tad DiBiase?
Tad DiBiase was born and raised in New York, about 40 minutes north of New York City.
He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina and graduated with a degree in politics.
He worked in Washington, D.C., for IBM for one year. He attended Brooklyn Law School and graduated in 1991and participated in the Prosecutor’s Clinic at Brooklyn district attorney’s office. He worked for 3½ years for a New York law firm, Shearman & Sterling, in their D.C. office.
He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. in 1995. He worked there for 12 years, nine of which he prosecuted homicides, specializing in domestic homicides and forensic cases.
DiBiase also served as deputy chief of misdemeanor section, chief of Third District homicide/major crimes section and ended his career as the deputy chief of homicide section and special counsel for Professional Development and Training.
He tried more than 50 jury trials, including 20 homicide cases, including D.C.’s second “no body” homicide cases. He has consulted with police departments and prosecutors on “no body” cases, lectured to law enforcement and written his blog (online at nobodycases.blogstream.com) since May 2006. He left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May 2007 and joined Shapiro, Lifschitz and Schram law firm, where he practices construction litigation, government contracts and white-collar law.
New DNA technology has changed the odds
“The part to prove the second point, that the person was murdered, that is kind of where the forensics evidence comes in and what I have noticed is that is the biggest change from years ago. The advances in forensics evidence has made it significantly easier to prove that a person was murdered, because we are able to find their blood, able to find their DNA, able to take very small samples of DNA and work up a profile of the person,” he said.
According to DiBiase, maternal DNA can now be taken from a mother and compared to the DNA of a victim to determine if the victims DNA can be linked as a descendant of the mother.
“That type of scientific advance, that didn’t exist five years ago, let alone ten years ago, and that is what I have found that has made a really big difference and I think why we are seeing more of these (no body) cases than we have seen in the past,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, the conviction rate on “no body” cases is very high. He feels that it is because the prosecution brings stronger cases, but it is not as big of a burden to overcome with not having the body.
According to DiBiase, it is not an easy task to dispose of a body.
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but it certainly fits the very common profile of what you see in a “no body” case, which is a husband, a wife, a relationship between the two and that’s because it is enormously difficult to get rid of a body…. You’ve got to be someone who can have ready access to the person. Access that is not necessarily going to be suspicious. You’ve got to have time with the body (to dispose of),” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, in any domestic violence case, the issue is very much often about control. Typically it is the man doing something to the woman.
“It’s almost always about control — the man feeling like he is loosing control and that is what can be a triggering event,” he said. “You almost always see some triggering event. A fight between the two people, a court date coming up.”
According to DiBiase, a divorce is a classic triggering event, because it sends a signal to the man that he is loosing control and the woman is getting away.
“And that is often what triggers someone that would ordinarily not be disposed of committing a murder to actually do something like that,” he said.
According to DiBiase, there are basically three ways to close a “no body” case.
The first is that the defendant confesses; second, someone “snitches” on the defendant; and third, from very strong forensic evidence.
DiBiase said that through his research, he has found that “no body” cases are not as difficult as most believe.
“I have found the worst defense is actually to say that the victim is not dead. I have found that is distinctively a stupid defense and a terrible defense,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, most bodies in “no body” cases are never found.
DiBiase said that most of the times the bodies are weighed down in bodies of water or buried.
DiBiase was a prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney Office in Washington, D.C., and left that position in May 2007.
He specialized in domestic murder cases and DNA scientific forensic cases.
He spent 12 years as a prosecuting attorney and nine years as a homicide prosecutor.
talks about Parker case
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=884239&CategoryID=3511&on=1